Sake on a Saturday Night
by alliedoll
Summary: A drunken night of passion may or may not lead to love for Kakashi, however, there are many issues concerning this particular woman because she has no ninja skills. Can a jounin and a NoNin really be together? Final chapter has been posted.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kakashi or any part of the anime Naruto. The characters Arielle and Sarina Hakano are mine, however, and if you choose to use them later for anything please ask my permission. I have lots of other original characters that I will be including in later chapters.

The sun shone through Sarina's windows waking her up. She opened her eyes for a second, and then closed them again. "Where am I?" she thought. "In my own bed. Pinned? Arm? Arm! Guy? Guy's arm pinning me to bed."

She unpinned herself and rolled over to look at her clock. It was almost noon.

"I'm late. Arielle is going to kill me."

She got dressed quickly in whatever clothing she found scattered on her floor. She wasn't even sure the clothes matched. Hastily she wrote a note to whoever was sharing her bed.

"Lock the doors. Tea is in the second kitchen cupboard to the right. Don't touch anything else," the note read.

She ran to work, her head pounding from a hangover. She hadn't had time for a proper breakfast or even a cup of tea. The only thing she could remember from the previous night was that her sister Arielle had a party celebrating her upcoming wedding ceremony, and at that party were lots of people and lots of alcohol.

Arielle was fuming when she came in. "Sarina, you're late. You were supposed to be here three hours ago."

"Sorry Arielle, I just woke up, and I forgot to set the alarm. And don't freak out, but there's a guy in the apartment. He was still asleep, so I left him a note. I'm dreadfully hungover, could you please at least take pity on me and buy me a cup of tea?"

"Here," she said handing Sarina some money. "Go get yourself a cup of raspberry leaf tea. It's supposed to get rid of some of the toxins. And while you're at it put on some lipstick. It'll brighten up your face. You look like a corpse."

Kakashi woke up to a kitten licking his face. There was a note beside his pillow.

The previous night he had gone to a party at Arielle Hakano's apartment. Arielle lived with her sister Sarina, and together they ran the village bookshop. Sarina only worked at the bookshop part time. During the rest of the week, she was a primary level academic instructor at a village school. She also had a bit of a reputation for being a party girl.

He picked up the note and tried hard to focus on the letters despite his mental fuzziness. It was signed Sarina.

He got up and dressed. He had a hard time finding all of his clothing in the chaos that constituted Sarina's room. The cat attacked his ankles as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey little guy, are you hungry." The cat purred as he filled its food dish.

Sarina had left a cup on the counter, so he made himself a cup of tea. He sat at the kitchen table for a while trying to recollect exactly how everything had progressed between he and Sarina.

He'd gone to Arielle's party that night to forget about his students and their shortcomings for a little while. He loved the kids, but they were really starting to grate on his nerves. Sarina sat in the corner casually chatting with one of her fellow academic instructors. He sat next to them and they compared rants about their students.

"The two boys, all they do is try to best each other at everything. 'Saske-kun can't beat me,' or 'Naruto is dead last, so there's no way he can beat me.' Meanwhile, the girl is always going 'Saske-kun is so amazing! You're so great Saske-kun!' They are each developing their abilities at a good rate, but their lack of teamwork is going to catch up to them soon, I just know it.", he sighed. By this time, Kakashi had had quite a few drinks.

A great song was playing in the background, and Sarina leaned into him. She'd had quite a few drinks herself. They got up to dance and that was the last thing that was clear in his memory. Going to her room was fuzzy, and the rest? Not a clue.

He figured he should at least go talk to her. She had left in such a rush this morning there really had been no time to sort everything out. At least he had nowhere to be this morning. He and his student team had no missions planned for today, and tomorrow he had to go to….

"Damn it," he thought. "I'm supposed to give a lecture about Shinobi loyalty to their clan and to the village tomorrow to Sarina's classes." Now he knew he needed to talk to her today.

He walked to the bookstore. He hoped to catch Sarina alone. Hopefully, Mikayo, Arielle's fiancée came to steal her away for the afternoon.

Unfortunately, Sarina was not alone when Kakashi walked into the store.

"Good afternoon, Kakashi-san, is there anything I can help you with?" Arielle asked.

"Is Sarina here?"

Sarina came from the back of the store where she'd been shelving books. She was a little surprised to see Kakashi, but she guessed it had something to do with the presentation he was giving to her class tomorrow.

"Hi, Kakashi-San."

"Serena. I locked your doors, and I fed the cat. He's really cute."

Arielle's eyes widened. She glared at Sarina.

Sarina herself was taken aback. Of all the men in the village?

"Anyway," he sensed the tension. "Can I come by later? I want to talk to you about the presentation."

"Sure," she said trying to remain collected. "I'll be home around six."

"Actually, why don't we meet for ramen. Six is good."

"See you then."

He left, and as soon as the door closed, Arielle yelled.

"What the hell was all that about!"


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Any member of the Hakano clan is my original thought. If anyone needs to use them, I would like a written request please. All characters that exist in Naruto's world, are not mine.

Sarina ran as far as she could from her father and brothers that day. She was determined to live on her own in the woods if she had to rather than be banished from the village that she loved so much. Her seven-year old legs could only carry her as far as the river. She flung herself upon the grassy banks and cried.

Kakashi was practicing his jitsus nearby. The 14 year-old boy stopped when he heard the sound of the crying girl. He recognized her as one of Jiachi Hakano's sisters. He and Jiachi had been friends growing up, but as of late that friendship had turned into a bitter rivalry. A rivalry on the part of Jiachi that is, because Kakashi's skills had developed at such a rapid rate in comparison to his own.

He tapped her on the shoulder, but she barely lifted her head in acknowledgement.

He asked softly, "Are you Ok?"

"Leave me alone," she screamed. Then she sat up. "Jiachi told Arielle that she was never to go anywhere with a boy alone, and I was here first, so you need to go!"

"If I were going to hurt you, you'd have never seen me coming." He said it with an air only an overconfident teenage boy could pull off. Then he softened his tone a little. "I just wanted to see if you were all right."

She looked at him and said sadly "I've been banished. The Hokage is sending me away, and my father told me I could never come back."

He puzzled at this. It couldn't be right.

She continued. "My father says I've shamed his family because I have yet to prove myself as having any Nin skills."

None of this made sense to Kakashi. Why would the Hokage send away a seven- year old girl for the simple reason she had done poorly on one of the Academy's elementary physical aptitude tests? Everyone in the village knew that those tests existed to measure each child's individual strengths and weaknesses. Kakashi himself had been given the job of administering some of those tests. No real decisions were made about any child until they were given the academy's graduation exam, and even then the decision wasn't always final.

He'd heard rumors at the Academy about a young girl who was gifted with amazing intelligence and insight for her age. She'd been through the series of intelligence tests given to all academy students, and she'd been one of the few over the years to score near perfect. The plan was to send her to a city, outside of the sheltered life of the Konoha Village. There she would study philosophy, art, literature, mathematics, and other subjects. The Hokage wanted to create a well-rounded scholar in hopes that the ninjas of the Konoha Village were given a solid academic curriculum to go along with their ninja training. He hoped that that would give them an advantage over their adversaries who focused solely on training the body.

Kakashi tried to find the right words to explain this to her. "Your father must be lying to you. The Hokage would never send a seven-year old girl away out of dishonor to her clan. I don't know what his plans are for you, but I do know that what you call exile is really an opportunity. From what I've heard you are talented, girl. Just because you possess a different skill from that which your father desires from you, it doesn't make your skills any less important. We each have our own successes and our own failures. That's what makes each of us unique."

"I don't want to be unique. I want to be a strong fighter."

He shook his head. She'd been influenced by her family too strongly to believe anything other than what they'd told her. At the end of the day, Sarina's greatest wish was her father's acceptance. Her three brothers, and even Arielle were always busy training, doing physical conditioning exercises that would prepare them to be the village's greatest ninjas. She felt separated from her siblings due to her lack of natural talent for the art.

"Come on," he said. "I'll walk you home. It's getting late. Your mother will be worried."

"I'm running away. You can come with me if you like."

"I can't come with you. I have duties here. You do too, though your destiny seems to lie outside this village for a time."

He walked her home, and then returned to the river. Her brother Sanaro approached.

"Kakashi, have you seen Sarina? She ran off hours ago."

" I walked her home. Your father lied to her, you know?"

"About what?"

"About the reason she is being sent away."

"I know that, but I was sworn to secrecy."

Sanaro returned home with a heavy heart. He knew that his sister was afraid of what lie ahead for her.

That afternoon was the first and last time that Sarina had spoken to Kakashi at any length before Saturday night. She'd spent almost 20 years away from the village, and once she came back she immediately became an academic instructor. She'd been offered more prestigious positions, but she preferred elementary level because it was the time when the children were treated with the most equality.

Where Sarina lacked skill, however, Kakashi was Ninjitsu incarnate. Of course, to be fair he had devoted almost thirty of his thirty-three years to its perfection. His family had always been very supportive. Anytime, had he wanted to, he could have given it all up and chosen any other path, but it was his dream, his only true love.

He hoped that as an instructor he could pass that love along to his new students. Saske had all the natural abilities, but he displayed way too much arrogance. Sakura was brilliant at memorizing facts, but she lacked the physical power she needed to advance at this point. Kakashi hoped that this would develop with time and further training, however, he feared that her obsession with Saske was hindering her progress. She cared more about Saske's opinion of her than she cared about reaching her own goals and striving for higher ideals. Naruto, well, Kakashi didn't really know where to begin with that one. He's overconfident, obnoxious, and pretty much misses the point of everything. Like Saske, he possesses great talent, but he focuses that talent on the wrong things. Winning is not the only reason to be a ninja. You have to sacrifice too much of yourself to be true to the art.

He entered the ramen restaurant at about 7:15. She wasn't there yet.

"At least she won't be angry." He pulled out the third book in the Paradise Series, Paradise on Holiday, and began reading. It might be a long wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from that anime. I do however own Arielle, Mikayo, Jiachi, Sarina, and Sanaro. Just to let you all know.

"What were you thinking?"

"Arielle, it was nothing really, just too much sake. I mean I barely know him."

"You really are that pathetic. He is practically the hottest guy in the village, and you are completely unaffected."

"Jealous, are you?"

"I'm happily engaged."

Arielle and Mikayo, though their relationship was pretty good, had met through a matchmaker. Arielle's parents had met that way, and she believed her father would deem any man she chose on her own unworthy of their family. Mikayo was a chunnin, and he would probably never advance past that level. He was thirty-one years old, and he was looking to settle down and raise a family. In his estimation, the Hakano clan was a clan that had produced generations of good ninjas. His match with Arielle was a wise economic and political move for him. Of course, it didn't hurt at all, that he found her charming and beautiful. None of this changed the fact that long ago, Arielle had harbored feelings for Kakashi.

One summer night, around the time Arielle was ten, Kakashi had spent the night at their house. He was the same age as her brother, four years older than she was. Their brothers had friends at the house all the time, so this was nothing unusual. This boy seemed quieter and more polite than the others did. Arielle found him quite handsome as well. He possessed dark intense eyes that spoke more experience than one would have expected from a boy his age; these eyes paired with his unruly silver hair made Arielle find him irresistible.

That night Arielle dragged Sarina up to their loft bedroom right above their brothers' room. "Mom told us we should sleep in the living room and give the boys their space." Sarina said.

"I just want to spy on them for a few minutes."

The boys came in from an evening's worth of hard training. They began taking off their sweaty clothes. Arielle couldn't take her eyes off of Kakashi's lean toned body.

"He is so beautiful." She gushed.

"I don't see what the big deal is. He's just a boy. It's nothing we haven't seen before, I mean we've got two brothers."

"You silly, it's different when it's not your brother."

Sarina didn't see the difference. He looked just like any other boy to her.

Arielle rolled over clutching her pillow. "I'm in love, Sarina! In Love!"

Sarina was quickly snapped back to the present by Arielle's voice.

"You know he's completely devoted to the life of a warrior. If he ever gets married, which is highly unlikely, it will be when he's 50. Then he'll hire a matchmaker because he doesn't want to interrupt his busy training schedule trying to woo someone on his own. Anything that goes on between you now is merely a dalliance."

"Who said I was looking for anything serious anyway?"

"You should be, you're 27 years old."

"Besides, even if I were looking to get married, you just said he wouldn't take a relationship between us seriously. Come to think of it, why did you say that anyway? Why would you say that about your own sister?"

"He's a jounin. He'll want to spend his life with someone on his own level."

So that's the lie Arielle had told herself all these years to keep her feelings for Kakashi at bay. She'd convinced herself she wasn't good enough for him.

"Arielle, I have to go. I'm already late."

"He'll probably tell you it was a mistake that you hooked up."

"So it doesn't matter. I barely know him anyway."

Kakashi had spent most of the afternoon wondering how he should proceed with Sarina. Was the meeting at the Ramen Restaurant tonight actually a date or merely the professional engagement he had offered? He decided he'd better play it casual, since he'd gotten no sign from her that anything more existed between them.

"Sorry, I'm late. I got caught up at closing." She'd taken the time to change clothes, he noticed. She wore a pretty red dress and a red ribbon held back her hair. "You'd think that Arielle would take it easier the week before her wedding. So what did you need to run by me?"

She was too calm, almost as if nothing had happened. He needed to know where he stood with her. When he'd gone home, he thought about the whole situation for a long time. There were no other women in his life right now. Most were scared away by his extreme devotion to ninjitsu. The ones who swooned over him were in love with the title of jounin and the privilege that came with it. They didn't know him as a person at all. Then again, neither did Sarina. He found it odd that she was neither ashamed nor apologetic about last night's events. It was something that had happened, that was all.

"Sarina, I'm sorry about last night."

"Look, it's no big deal. It happened."

"I know, but…"

"But what, you feel like you ruined my reputation. Is that what's on your conscience?" She was a little angry.

He didn't have an answer right away.

"I wish I knew you better. I'd like to go out again, but next time I'd like it to be a real date, I guess."

Arielle had been wrong about Kakashi, and Sarina couldn't believe it.


	4. Conclusion

Greetings readers: this is the final chapter. I'm very happy with it. I hope you will be too. As always, I don't own the characters in Naruto.

She lay wrapped in his arms still asleep. He kissed her lightly on the back of her neck and on her shoulders. He breathed in the scent of her hair and her skin. He could only savor this for a few more minutes. He was supposed to meet his team in a little while. Maybe he ought to bring Sarina to the session this morning. It could be a test for both her and the kids. Not that he needed to test her; he was more in the mood to show her off a bit.

Sarina awoke. She pulled Kakashi to her and kissed him playfully.

"Good Morning to you too," He laughed. "I've got a surprise. You're invited to our training session this morning."

"Just remember that I have to be at my parents' house at 9:30. The wedding ceremony starts at 1:00, and Arielle will kill me if I'm late."

"It won't last that long. It's only 7:00 now. They won't know how to react to me showing up on time today." He smiled sexily.

He has such a pretty face, she thought. It's a shame he always covers it with that mask. Of course, maybe all that beauty was a secret just for her. She kissed him again, this time running her hands all through his hair. Without the headband, it fell close to his chin without its usual spikiness. It enhanced his boyish features. The scarred eye was the only part of that face that spoke of an unpleasant past, one that Sarina had yet to be acquainted with. She hoped in time he would trust her enough to reveal that darkness to her.

They met Naruto, Sakura, and Saske.

"Sensei, you're on time this morning." Sakura marveled.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully. "This is Sarina Hakano."

Kakashi had brought a girlfriend, a real live woman. They knew something was up. He hadn't been reading those smutty paradise porn novels all week, and he'd seemed a little bit distracted. It wasn't noticeable at first, but then again…

"Way to go, Kakashi-Sensei", interjected Naruto. "You've bagged yourself a babe."

Sarina giggled "You must be Naruto. I've heard a lot about you."

"All good things I'm sure." Naruto beamed. Sarina just giggled again.

Sakura introduced herself. She wasn't sure what to make of Sarina. Saske said nothing in his typical fashion. He merely nodded a cool greeting at Sarina.

Kakashi worked mostly with Naruto and Saske that morning leaving Sarina and Sakura a chance to get to know each other better.

They talked about lots of things. Sarina told Sakura about her travels and things that she had studied.

"Sakura-chan, do you read much?"

"Yes, Sarina-san. I love to read."

"There are a few really good books on the philosophy behind ninjitsu training that I think you could benefit from. I had to read them because I have the responsibility of teaching kids who might one day serve as ninjas."

He'd left them alone because he thought Sakura would benefit from Sarina's perspective, which differed markedly from his. Sarina had taken dance to build her coordination and poise. Yoga had increased her flexiblility, and it also built a calmer aura where she'd once held angst. She channeled her imagination into poetry; she poured her creativity into art. These skills might not earn her any respect from her father, but Kakashi found them essential. Some people were born to be heroes, but these heroes were nothing if no one were there who possessed enough vision to capture their legacy. Their accomplishments would count for naught if there were no one who could teach future generations about the stories.

They'd spent almost every day and night together over the past week and over this time he'd grown to love her. It seemed rather sudden, but she was the first person to understand his life, his passions, and his commitment to the life of a ninja. He decided that moment that there was no reason in postponing his decision. The week had been enough. He knew what he had to do.

Pastel pink roses covered every fixture in the Hakano home. The ceremony itself might be simple, but the reception afterwards was going to be quite grand.

Sarina was running late as usual. Arielle knew where she was. She'd been at his house every night this week. In her opinion, it was scandalous.

Sarina finally showed up, thirty minutes late. She looked happy.

"Sorry, I was late. The training exercises ran late this morning, and I was anxious to get these sketches of the team done."

She pulled out a sketchbook. Inside were pencil drawings of Kakashi and his students. They weren't the best work that Arielle had ever seen, but they were much better than she herself could have produced. They were moments captured on paper; snapshots into ordinary event in the lives of ninjas. Kakashi would be happy with these pictures.

"Just get ready."

Sarina changed into her porcelain pink dress, and sat waiting. Her hair had been curled, and pinned into a chignon at the base of her neck. Atop her head sat a wreath of pale pink roses. She looked very elegant in an understated manner.

The bridesmaids were doing the final touches on their hair and make-up. A knock came at the door. It was Naruto holding a note and a single white rose.

The note read:

"All I have to give you is my heart, my body, and my soul. I offer you my life; to spend it with you would be more than enough. If that is your wish and you accept, take this rose and wear it in your hair as you walk down the aisle. If you're not wearing it, I'll know the answer is no. I know this is rather sudden, but I believe that it is right."

Sarina's eyes filled with tears. This couldn't be real. Was she really ready to take this step? It made no sense, but as he'd said, it felt right somehow.

She took off the pink rose wreath and unpinned her hair. The curls fell loose past her shoulders. The other two bridesmaids stared at her in horror, but Sarina didn't care. She took one of her hairpins and pinned the rose into the curls. Arielle didn't have time to stop her because the music had started. Sarina took her place in the procession. The music started, and she walked down the aisle. Her eyes met Kakashi's, and he smiled when he saw the rose in her hair. It shone as a secret promise of their pledged love. She then took her place in Arielle's shadow one last time.


End file.
